#Journal
103 postsEvents and Art in Vancouver
Where to find art and events in Vancouver, last updated September 2026
Read postOngoing Project status updates 2025 June 10th
Status update on the Counter Productive button, which hit 1000 presses in 71 days, and the Sky Pixels project.
Read postTools and equipment 2024
A 2024 snapshot of the software, hardware, camera gear, and shop tools I use day to day.
Read postIdea 089 - Wheres Wren?
A Where's Waldo style search book for each region where a wren in a striped bobble hat hides among local birds.
Read postIdea 030 - Chatbot Journaling
Idea: a chatbot that gives daily journaling prompts, asks follow-up questions, and builds up knowledge about you to give feedback.
Read postTools and equipment 2022
Tools and equipment used in 2022: VS Code, KiCAD, Sony a6400, Sigma 150-600mm, Logitech MX Master 3S, and a Pixel 6 Pro.
Read postYear in review 2021
Year in review 2021: 31,893 bird photos, 363 species, moving from Vancouver to Burnaby, and a year of working from home stats.
Read postBirding in Vancouver
Beginner birding resources for Vancouver: intro videos, local birding sites, and notes from making the Birds of Play card deck.
Read postCurrent tools and equipment (2021)
The software, gadgets and gear Steven uses day to day in 2021, and what changed since 2018 after the move to working from home.
Read postFebruary 2021 brain dump
February 2021 brain dump on getting into birding with a Sigma 150-600mm, plotter twitter projects, and a 52-card bird playing deck plan.
Read postDo not buy from Dell
Rant on why Steven will not buy from Dell again: a failed order cancellation, lost rewards, a monitor shipped to the wrong address, and useless chat support.
Read postPodcasts 2020
Podcast list for March 2020 with new picks like Clarkesworld, Stack Overflow Podcast and Hello Internet, plus Reply All and 99% Invisible.
Read postTools and equipment 2019
The 2019 tools and equipment list, with notes on the switch to PlatformIO and Firefox and away from Samsung phones.
Read postTravel Tips
What worked and what didn't on a two-month trip through South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and China.
Read postTrip to Shenzhen 2018
Two days at the Huaqiang Road markets in Shenzhen and the pile of LED strips, switches, and Pi cases brought home.
Read postTools 2018
Snapshot of the software and hardware used in 2018, from VS Code and PlatformIO to a Surface Pro 3 and Sony WH-H900N.
Read postEarthquake Kits for Vancouver
A Vancouver earthquake kit built for under $30, with a parts list and the personal items to add yourself.
Read postSimple security
Plain-language notes on picking a threat model and the low to high effort tools used to defend against it.
Read postMust see movies
A running list of must-see movies from Mad Max Fury Road back through Spirited Away, Memento, and Cube, with short notes on each.
Read postPodcasts
A running list of podcasts, from Radiolab and This American Life to The Dollop, 99% Invisible, and The Moth.
Read postMushroom growing kit and automation
Growing an oyster mushroom kit and over-engineering it with an ESP8266, DS18B20 sensors, MQTT, and Twilio alerts.
Read postWanhao Duplicator i3
Notes on picking up a used Wanhao Duplicator i3, getting started with Cura, and a list of 3D printing resources.
Read postDay 26 - L3D cube build
The L3D Cube kickstarter kit, a quick build of an LED cube with a diffuser dome that is fun to play with.
Read postRescueTime July - September 2014
RescueTime tracking summary for July through September 2014.
Read postRescueTime March - May 2014
RescueTime charts for March, April, and May 2014, including a stretch on vacation in Shenzhen, China.
Read postDomain names and registrar
Notes on consolidating 100+ domains across 6 registrars into one, with a short list of Gandi, EasyDNS, and name.com compared.
Read postGeneral status update
Six-month status update covering Google Authenticator two-factor setup across daily web apps and adding it to a test server.
Read postLife tracking Jan 2014
January 2014 self-tracking dump: RescueTime hours, Moves step counts, Google location maps, BC Hydro usage, and sleep stats.
Read postLife tracking Dec 2013
December 2013 life-tracking dump: app usage, Vancouver movement map, steps, sleep, house temperature, and BC Hydro use.
Read postGoals for 2014
Three goals for 2014: meditate after every project, post to abluestar.com weekly, and add weight, meal, and sleep tracking.
Read postThe problems with sending a lot of emails.
Notes on running EveryDayFiction.com: the cost and deliverability headache of sending 2 million daily story emails a month.
Read postA response to Life tracking and Quantified Self movement.
My life-tracking setup: Google Calendar for every event, phone alarms for sleep, and a spreadsheet of daily habit points.
Read postHow a Greyhound employee stole alcohol from my checked luggage.
Open letter to Greyhound after a Seattle baggage checker confiscated two bottles of 12-year scotch from my checked luggage.
Read postBEWARE! ShareMouse, MaxiVista, Bartels Media == Crapwear
Rant about ShareMouse and Bartels Media selling crapware that disables itself behind a paywall after you set it up.
Read postThe Giant Claw Game! - Post Mortem
Post mortem on the Giant Claw Game: the claw broke on kid one, so I swapped it for a magnet on a string.
Read postBoard members on B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB)
Asking the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Branch who sets their policy, and what they wrote back.
Read post2013 Goals and Resolutions
Goals for 2013: weekly blog posts, 300 geocaches, learn Rails, build a card game, and add more home sensors.
Read postThis has been a great year.
Year-end notes on VHS hitting 110 members, board work, Maker Faire prep, and house hunting in Vancouver.
Read postTranslink sucks in Vancouver
Complaint number 25 of the year to TransLink, after bus 2568 passed stop 58125 at 11:20pm without stopping.
Read postRental Guide are bad people, and suck.
A warning about Vancouver's Rental Guide, which advertises listings that do not exist and repost ads from craigslist.
Read postVancouver Scavenger Hunts
A walking and transit-only scavenger hunt list built for exploring Vancouver with friends and family.
Read postFive Pirates
The classic five pirates and 100 gold coins puzzle, posted for readers to solve in the comments.
Read postHow to be distracted
A play-by-play of how one Facebook reply, a Wikipedia rabbit hole, and a game of Winbolo killed an entire day.
Read postPing and pong
A short note on why the ping and pong handshake is a quietly beautiful piece of network design.
Read postBurning Man 2011 - Rites of Passage
Recap of Burning Man 2011 with favourite installations Charon's rowing skeletons and El Pulpo Mechanico.
Read postPlaya tips and tricks
Personal tips for Burning Man: tennis-ball kickstand, marked piss bottles, fresh socks, and bike lights.
Read postDog and Helium Voice - Terrifying
A short video post of a dog with a helium voice, which sounds terrifying.
Read postBurning man 2011 placement confirmed - DIVORCE & 7:30, Rites Of Passage
Burning Man 2011 camp placement at Divorce and 7:30 with Retrofrolic, plus the year's street name list.
Read postAbluestar.com privacy statement
A blunt parody privacy statement for Abluestar.com that says all data is collected, kept, and sold on request.
Read postInkPop.com, Are spammers and a security risk for their users. DON'T USE THEM. They suck
Rant about InkPop.com sending repeat SEO pitch spam and storing user passwords in plain text.
Read postNetburner http weird errors - Daily WTF
Fixing a batch of undefined-reference linker errors in a Netburner HTTP project by adding an /http/index.html file.
Read postStatus update May 12, 2011
May 2011 update covering a burned out spin art motor, a DC trip to HacDC, and progress on the POV globe.
Read postUpcoming events for this summer
List of Vancouver events through spring 2011, ending with Mini Maker Faire on June 25-26.
Read postA perfect example of why you should use the same password on different websites.
Plenty of Fish stored passwords in plain text and got hacked, which is why reusing that password on Facebook is a bad idea.
Read postSkullcandy head phones are not compatible...
Skullcandy support told me my Hesh headphones only work with iPhone 4 and Xbox 360, which is absurd for a wire and a speaker.
Read postThey are made out of data
A Terry Bisson style rewrite where the aliens discover that humans inside Tron 2 are made out of data.
Read postSolstice Lunar Eclipse! Dec 20th 2010
Plans to watch the Dec 20 2010 total lunar eclipse from Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver on winter solstice night.
Read postColor survey
A color-naming survey borrowed from XKCD to find common ground on how people label the same swatches.
Read postOur privacy policy: We sell your data. You get our content for free, Deal?
A blunt walkthrough of what a website operator can actually learn about you from HTTP headers, cookies, IPs, and user agents.
Read postA web masters thoughts on mortality
Notes on writing a will that hands off domains, passwords, and a deadman switch so my sites keep running after I die.
Read postMeouloaf -- Bloodshots 2010
Meouloaf, a short horror film shot in 48 hours with friends for the Bloodshots 2010 competition.
Read postTalk about your bad luck
A comic writer loses his drive, his backups, and his repair shop all in one week after the shop owner dies mid-operation.
Read postAnther reason why paypal sucks
PayPal froze the Flux Foundation donation account after five months, blocking funds raised for the Temple of Flux art project.
Read postVPSN Stick it to the Streets, Vancouver Car free day 2010
Notes on VPSN's Stick It to the Streets, the East Van Chili Cook Off, and a timelapse from Vancouver Car Free Day 2010.
Read postSnakes and Ladders
History of Snakes and Ladders, from the 2nd-century Indian game Moksha-Patamu to its Victorian and Western versions.
Read postArduino Infrared, Blue Robot challenge, Burning man and superman
Working on the VHS Blue Robot IR beacon challenge with an Arduino, plus WordPress 3.0, Burning Man, and Vancouver event links.
Read postInteresting Friday
Friday roundup of Vancouver events, science talks, an Arduino-Android toolkit, and other links from the week.
Read postBill C-61 AKA Canadian DMCA - Crisis Fatigue
Bill C-61, Canada's DMCA, is back in parliament and people are tired of fighting it.
Read postLooking for a new host
Personal review of past web hosts (Hostgator, Dreamhost, Media Temple, Hasweb, GoDaddy) and a wishlist for the next one.
Read postRPXnow and Windows live ID, problems signing out
Why RPXnow users see scary Windows Live ID sign-out errors, with a link to the Google Groups support thread that explains it.
Read postWhy don't we have free phones yet?
A rant on Canadian carrier monopolies and a thought experiment about a mesh-networked open phone with no cell towers.
Read postUPS vs FedEx
A cross-border shipping rant about a $13 UPS Ground order that turned into $53 once the brokerage fees landed at the door.
Read postDice
A short history of dice, from divining sticks and pyramid dice at Ur to teetotums and medieval dice boards.
Read postinternet robot zombies
A plain-language take on form-spam bots, the botnets that run them, and why people buying the spam keeps it alive.
Read postTesting writing from Windows Live Writer
First impressions of Windows Live Writer as a desktop blog client for WordPress, with categories, live preview, and source editing.
Read postYou may call me /b/
A B-heavy Urban Dictionary definition of /b/, the public bulletin board built of brilliance and barbarity.
Read postWhy is everything so plain?
After 15 redesigns, the 16th strips the site down to a clean simple template that just works.
Read postYour daily WTF
A code-review WTF: a sleep loop that increments its counter twice per pass.
Read postRule 34 - If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.
A quick xkcd link to Rule 34: if it exists, there is porn of it, no exceptions.
Read postLeap Year post!
A note on leap day plus the if-mod-4-and-100-and-400 check for detecting leap years in code.
Read postMaBeGroMo Rules
Joining MaBeGroMo, the November alternative to NaNoWriMo where you put the razor away and grow a beard until December.
Read postTips for pulling an all nighter
Tips for pulling an all-nighter at the computer, written as a rebuttal to Jon Lee's advice to work in a dark room.
Read postOK to talk to
Ordering an OK Social button for Vancouver, a wearable signal that says strangers are welcome to start a conversation.
Read postWhen big people steal small guys ideas
Adobe Kuler looks a lot like ColourLovers.com, and small site owners have no real way to push back on big copycats.
Read postDefeat your Google twin
Plotting how to outrank my Google twin, an engine-casting site also named Steven Smethurst, by Christmas.
Read postMistakes I have made
Ten blogging and web design mistakes I made over the years, from subdirectories and subdomains to too many RSS feeds.
Read postWhere I went wrong
Reflecting on my offline games niche blog and where the original niche-picking calculation went wrong.
Read postTechnorati faves
Joining a Technorati favourites cross-linking experiment, with the rules for faving each other's blogs.
Read post5 Favorite Childhood Cartoons
My five favourite childhood cartoons: Tom & Jerry, Tiny Toon Adventures, DuckTales, Pinky and the Brain, Darkwing Duck.
Read postTimeless content
Why blog posts about current events go stale, and how to write content that stays useful 5 to 10 years later.
Read postHow to make dice, and a brief history
A short history of dice from divining sticks and the tombs of Ur to teetotums and medieval dice boards.
Read postMore riddles
A second batch of lateral-thinking riddles with answers tucked below the cut.
Read postDaily Chess Puzzles
A script that pulls one chess puzzle a day from a database and sends it out by email or RSS.
Read postJoke, My Grandfathers Death
A short joke about a grandfather who knew the exact day and time of his death because the judge told him.
Read postThings to do in vancouver
A personal running list of Vancouver spots and events, from Treetops Adventure and La Casa Gelato to the Parade of Lost Souls.
Read postTool at GM place Review
Tool at GM Place opened with Stinkfist and closed with Vicarious, backed by projector visuals, rotating overhead light rings, and mirror-bounced lasers.
Read postDEEP COVE DAZE 2006
Deep Cove Daze on August 27 fills Panorama Park with local bands, a midway, martial arts demos, and a beer garden, free admission.
Read postCity Square Heritage Walks
John Atkin leads a two-hour Fairview Slopes heritage walk on August 26 starting at the City Square Mall food court for $10.
Read post2006 DESTINATION FUNNY SHORT FILM CONTEST
The 2006 Destination Funny Shorts contest accepts comedic films 3 to 15 minutes long for screening at the September 18 CanWest Comedyfest event.
Read postSummer Addiction Beach Party
Summer Addiction kicks off August 30 at Tonic Nightclub on Granville with a beach party set including tiki huts, palm trees, and a VIP raft lounge.
Read postLarch Market
Larch Market on August 26 is a one-day community bazaar in Kitsilano with artists, musicians, books, records, antiques, and clothing.
Read postThe fair at the PNE!
The 2006 PNE Fair at Hastings Park runs August 19 to September 5 with the Superdogs, motocross, the Prize Home, and fair food.
Read postCapilano Canyon Night Run (Midsummer)
A 90-minute night trail run through Capilano Canyon on August 19, with a guided group pace and a competitive category, capped at 50 runners.
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